Datetime Versioning

Ship dates,
not numbers.

Three schemes for encoding build timestamps into version numbers that actually work on Windows, macOS, and Linux — where X ≤ 255, Y ≤ 255, and Z ≤ 65535.

The constraint

Windows MSI caps Major and Minor at 255. Patch caps at 65535. Any X.Y.Z version outside these bounds will silently break your installer or fail your build. These three schemes encode datetimes within those limits.

X
0 – 255
Major
Y
0 – 255
Minor
Z
0 – 65535
Patch

The family

SunVer
Read it like a sundial — just look.
X = year − 2000   Y = month   Z = dd×1000 + HH×10 + m
range 255 years resolution 10 min legibility full
MoonVer
Monthly cycles, a little math.
X = group×12 + month   Y = half×100 + day   Z = HHmm
range 40 years resolution 1 min legibility partial
BinVer
Opaque. Maximum range. No pretense.
X = (s≫24) & 0xFF   Y = (s≫16) & 0xFF   Z = s & 0xFFFF
range 136 years resolution 1 sec legibility none

Comparison

Resolution Range Legibility Best for
SunVer 10 min 255 yr Full Human-facing releases
MoonVer 1 min 40 yr Partial Frequent CI builds
BinVer 1 sec 136 yr None Embedded / infra

Try it

SunVer

—

MoonVer

—

BinVer

—

Why not SemVer?

SemVer communicates compatibility. These schemes communicate time. They're not competing — they serve different purposes. Use SemVer for libraries where API contracts matter. Use Ver for applications, game builds, firmware, CI artifacts — anything where "when was this built?" is more useful than "is this backwards compatible?".